NVIDIA needed a name for a new high performance line of processors that would span multiple product offerings. The name needed to be short, memorable, and credible. It needed to convey high-performance with a “cool factor”. NVIDIA liked “Neo,” from the popular Matrix movies at that time, but most 3-letter words were knocked-out in trademark screenings.
The Name
“Tegra” worked for NVIDIA because it was a memorable, short, 2 syllable word that carried with it the gravitas of words like ”integrity” and “integral”.
The Result
Tegra became so integrated into various products that its still powering many of the technologies we know and love today.